Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: Making Comics: Manga, Graphic Novels, and Beyond | 
| Authors: Jessica Abel, Matt Madden
Publisher: First Second
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $17.97
You Save: $11.98 (40%)
New (36) Used (11) from $17.18
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 38266
Media: Paperback
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.5
Dimensions (in): 12 x 9 x 1
ISBN: 1596431318
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.51
EAN: 9781596431317
ASIN: 1596431318
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Learn to create your own comics with Drawing Words and Writing Pictures, a richly illustrated collection of 15 in-depth lessons that cover everything from crafting your story to lettering and laying out panels.
Take a Look Inside Drawing Words and Writing Pictures
Three Panels That Move Beyond the Grid  |  |  | | This page from Mike Mignola's Hellboy is a beautiful example of creating rhythm and mood. Read more... | In Blankets, Craig Thompson tells his story through dramatic and unexpected page layouts. Read more... | In David B.'s Epileptic, the shape and orientation of the panel reinforce the storytelling. Read more... |
Product Description
"A gold mine of essential information for every aspiring comics artist. Highly recommended." --Scott McCloud Drawing Words and Writing Pictures is a course on comic creation – for college classes or for independent study – that centers on storytelling and concludes with making a finished comic. With chapters on lettering, story structure, and panel layout, the fifteen lessons offered – each complete with homework, extra credit activities and supplementary reading suggestions – provide a solid introduction for people interested in making their own comics. Additional resources, lessons, and after-class help are available on the accompanying website, www.dw-wp.com.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Wanna' Make Comics? Start Here... June 12, 2008
Kevin McCloskey (Kutztown, PA)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
I brought an advance copy of this book into a college illustration class I teach. The class was quite impressed. In fact, two students went onto Amazon online and bought it instantly. Usually I discourage shopping during class, but Drawing Words and Writing Pictures is an answered prayer for the aspiring comics artist.
This is an ideal text for a 15-week class in comics. It also has guidance for starting an informal collective class. It includes suggestions for the stereotypical solitary artist, who the authors are gracious enough to refer to as ronin. There is a wealth of info on the narrative process, page design, lettering, pens, and even Photoshop scanning advice.
The authors' individual web pages present a lot this DIY info, so search out their sites, see if their philosophies appeal to you. The book contains multiple perspectives from two remarkable artists. Matt Madden is into "formalist" styles, working within Houdini-like constraints. Jessica Abel's La Perdida is one of the great masterpieces of the long-form graphic novel.
From George Herriman to Robert Crumb, Charles Burns, to Kaz and John Porcillino, the book is crammed with a diversity of styles. Wide-ranging and inclusive, no matter what one's preferred comics style, from manga to superhero to alternative, you will find something to like here.
Instructors will find the bibliography alone is worth the price of admission, I teach a seven-week college comics course each fall. My plan is to email the students over the summer, tell them to get this book and get started on the exercises. The ronins will get a head start and their classmates will lose face.
Scott McCloud's Making Comics is also a valuable college course text for serious students, who have some background in reading comics and thinking critically about the artform. Drawing Words and Writing Pictures, however, has practical exercises for students at any level. Highly recommended.
Amazing book September 29, 2008
Tommy J. King
I bought this book for a class titled "Human Satire and Caricature". All of the projects for our class came out of this book, or were somewhat derived from the lessons, and I must say, it's one of the best classes ever.
The text is a large contributor, but not the only one. My professor's an amazing guy as well.
Definitely a great buy if you're into anything dealing with comics, technical drawing, layout, storytelling, or any combination of those. It's structured really well, and a person with nearly no artistic talent can easily be turned into a decent comic artist by reading this book front to back and following the lessons in it.
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